I spend so much time bashing bigots, morons and fools that I often overlook the heroes among us. But Travis Price and David Shepherd, two straight high school seniors from a Canadian high school in Halifax are getting my newly created Queer Heroes Award of 2007--even thought the year is far from over.

Travis and David witnessed bullies going after a gay 9th grader who apparently was "flaunting" his homosexuality by wearing a pink polo shirt to school.

Our heroes, Travis and David were furious and decided to do something about it.

"I just figured enough was enough," Shepherd told a reporter for Canadian national television. So David and Travis went to a nearby discount store and bought 50 pink shirts, including tank tops, to wear to school the next day.

Then the two boys went online to e-mail classmates to get them on board with their anti-bullying crusade that they dubbed a "sea of pink." A tsunami of support poured in the next day. Not only were dozens of students outfitted with the discount tees and tanks, but hundreds of students showed up wearing their own pink clothes, some head-to-toe. In fact, the school estimates that more than half of the school's 830 students wore pink in support of the 9th grader.



But what really shocked the two boys and adults throughout the city was that thanks to the Internet, a total of 35 schools ended up participating in the Sea of Pink campaign. One local newspaper reports that "Students at Halifax-area high schools were swathed in a sea of pink yesterday, from the shirts they sported to the food they ate in cafeterias, as part of a city-wide anti-bullying campaign. At one school students who couldn't find anything pink to wear were met with a quick fix in the lunchroom – dyed pink mashed potatoes.

"I had pink eggs and ham this morning," joked Derek Stotz, student council co-president and senior at another Halifax high school. He also wore a T-shirt that said `Real men wear pink.'

When the bullied gay student walked into school to see his fellow students decked out in pink, some of his classmates said it was a powerful moment. Personally, I can't even imagine what this kid must have felt, but it's a feeling I wish on every gay child in the world. Personally, as I read this I've gone straight to teary-eyed. My God, what a life-changing moment for one gay boy and every other gay student in the Halifax school system.

Commenting on the 9th Grader, Shepherd explained that "...it looked like there was a big weight lifted off his shoulders. He went from looking right depressed to being as happy as can be." And there's been nary a peep from the bullies since, which Shepherd says just goes to show what a little activism will do.

"If you can get more people against them ... to show that we're not going to put up with it and support each other, then they're not as big as a group as they think are," he says.

Canadian television reports that the students' "sea of pink" campaign did not go unnoticed. Ellen DeGeneres has already approached the boys for her show.

"It's been totally overwhelming for us. I mean we're just two local boys and I mean we're getting calls from like Alaska and e-mails. It's just phenomenal the support that we've gotten from across the globe," said Price.

In fact, over the past few days the Sea of Pink crusade is gaining international traction and not just in the United States. Major newspapers across Europe are also covering the story.

In the meantime, school officials from across Canada are already discussing a national Pink Day throughout the entire Canadian school system.